33 young women are vying for the title of Miss Louisiana 2018 this week in Monroe.
Bonnie Bolden/The News-Star

Miss Louisiana 2017 Laryssa Bonacquisti sings "Jambalaya" with King Louis and the Fleur de Lis Princesses on Thursday during the first night of Miss Louisiana 2018 preliminaries in Monroe.(Photo: Bonnie Bolden/The News-Star)

Miss Shreveport Emily Randon won swimsuit and a $500 scholarship and Miss Union Parish Anna Blake won talent and a $1,000 scholarship on the first night of Miss Louisiana 2018 preliminaries.

Blake said she's been playing piano for the past 17 years and took lessons from her mom. She's worked all year on her piece, Beethoven's Sonata No. 21, Opus 53.

"We pulled some of the best parts of that piece to fit it into the time limit and just made it really exciting," she said.

Blake says piano is the center of all music and a beautiful talent for anyone to develop.

Randon is a ballet dancer who also spends time in the gym. She encourages everyone to stay healthy and active and says getting started is the hardest step.

She said it's important for people to find something fun to do that keeps them moving.

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33 young women are vying for the title of Miss Louisiana 2018 this week in Monroe.
Bonnie Bolden/The News-Star

The 33 contestants are divided into Jazz and Blues groups for competition. Jazz group, which consists of 17 contestants, completed the talent portion and on-stage questions. The other 16 contestants in Blues group did their evening wear and swimsuit competitions.

The overall competition is scored as follows:

Interview: 25%

Talent: 35%

Swimsuit: 15%

Evening wear: 20%

On-stage question: 5%

The second night of pageant preliminaries starts at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Monroe Civic Center’s WL “Jack” Howard Theater. The Miss Louisiana Pageant will air live from 8-10 p.m. June 23.

Louisiana Gannett's Bonnie Bolden will be posting about the pageant live @Bonnie_Bolden_, and the site will have stories, photo galleries and more as soon as possible after the events.